Rajpal Yadav plays a struggling actor impersonating a transperson in his upcoming film, Ardh.
Written and directed by Palash Muchhal, the film tells the story of Shiva (Rajpal), a small-town guy who moves to Mumbai with dreams of becoming an actor.
To survive in the city, Shiva pretends to be a transwoman (Parvati) with the support of his wife (Rubina Dilaik) and seeks money in the local trains and at the signals in Mumbai.
The voice-over of the film is provided by Jackie Shroff and the songs are sung by Sonu Nigam, Armaan Malik, Palak Muchhal, Rekha Bhardwaj, Rubina Dilaik, Divya Kumar, Parry G and Amit Mishra.
Speaking about his film, Palash shared, “Ardh is the story of almost every dreamer in Mumbai and we’ve tried to keep the movie as close to reality as possible. It’s something that a lot of people will connect to as it’s the story of the people.”
Rajpal Yadav said, "Ardh is the story of those people who struggle day and night to make their dreams come true. Shiva and Parvati represent those survivors. In our country, there are millions of such Shiva and Parvati fighting for their survival. So, this is their story, and I am honoured to be telling it."